NEW YORK — Aaron Boone was asked about Anthony Volpe’s return. He answered the same way twice. Two words. Full stop.
“We’ll see,” Boone said.
That was his response to both questions put to him. Not just once. Not just to buy time. Two questions. Same answer. That is not the language of a manager who has made up his mind.
Volpe is expected to be activated from the injured list sometime before Monday, when his 20-day rehab clock expires. He played 10 games at Double-A Somerset. He logged 34 plate appearances. He completed back-to-back nine-inning games at shortstop. His left shoulder, repaired in October surgery to fix a torn labrum, appears healthy. The medical file is closing.
The roster file is wide open.
Option one: Volpe gets his job back
Volpe returns as the everyday shortstop. Caballero drops to a utility role, getting a start here and there depending on matchups. The infield goes back to how the Yankees drew it up before spring training.
General manager Brian Cashman staked out this position clearly, nearly three weeks ago. He was asked point-blank whether Volpe returning as the starter had always been the plan.
“Always been the plan,” Cashman said. “But ultimately, that’ll be the manager’s call.”
Boone’s repeated ‘we’ll see’ since then has put that certainty in question. He said it five times answering two separate questions about Volpe’s status and role.
Volpe is 24 years old. He was a Yankees first-round pick out of Seton Hall in 2021. He won a Gold Glove in his rookie season in 2023 and was a finalist in 2024. He reached the World Series with the Yankees in 2024, hitting .333 in the Fall Classic. His career up to that point had been one of the better starts by a Yankees shortstop since Derek Jeter’s era.
He also likely played most of his 2025 Yankees season with a torn labrum he did not know he had. His numbers that year tell the story. He batted .212. He struck out 150 times in 562 plate appearances. His .963 fielding percentage led all AL shortstops in errors. A player playing through hidden shoulder damage would look exactly like that.
That argument has real weight. Give the surgery time to work, the shoulder a full season, and the Yankees star a clean slate.
Option two: Shared role, game by game
Volpe plays three or four days a week. Caballero fills the rest. The playing time splits based on the opposing pitcher, the matchup, the situation.
This is the most comfortable option for the Yankees front office. It avoids the optics of a demotion. It also keeps Caballero’s earned at-bats in play. He has been one of the Yankees’ best performers through 31 games.
The problem with this approach is the same problem any platoon arrangement creates. Neither player stays sharp. Caballero has said directly that he wants to be in the lineup every day. He is not trying to blend into a reserve role. He is trying to keep a starting position he has earned.
Boone acknowledged what Jose Caballero has brought to the Yankees this season. The manager’s praise was genuine. It also stopped short of any commitment.
“Cabbie is a really good player,” Boone said. “He does so many things to help you win a game.”
Option three: Triple-A for Volpe, and why it is not as crazy as it sounds
The third option is the one nobody anticipated at the start of this season. The Yankees could send Volpe to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Not permanently. Not as a career move. As a deliberate Yankees decision by a front office that has shown it can separate sentiment from results.
NJ.com columnist Bob Klapisch laid out the case for this option in a Thursday column. He framed it as a business decision. He asked the only question that matters.
“Would replacing Caballero with Volpe make the Yankees any better,” Klapisch wrote. “It’s hard to say yes.”
He backed it with a point about how this Yankees front office has been operating in 2026. Luis Gil won the 2024 AL Rookie of the Year award. He started 2026 poorly and was demoted after four starts. Randal Grichuk was cut after 31 at-bats. Relievers Luke Weaver and Devin Williams were not even offered contracts after the postseason.
The Yankees front office has been willing to make hard calls on players with history. Volpe would be a bigger call than any of those. But the logic, on pure performance, is not hard to follow.
Caballero’s Defensive Runs Saved rating is plus-6, first among all qualifying shortstops in baseball. His Outs Above Average is plus-1. He is batting .338 over his last 18 games with three home runs, 10 RBI and seven stolen bases. He leads the AL with 12 stolen bases. His .333 average with runners in scoring position leads all Yankees regulars.
Volpe in 2025 made 19 errors, the most of any AL shortstop. His fielding percentage was .963, the worst in the league. His Outs Above Average was minus-6. He batted .212 with a .303 on-base percentage.
The shoulder may explain a lot of that. But the Yankees do not need to settle that question in the next 48 hours. The Triple-A option gives Volpe time. Real time. Meaningful at-bats in a lower-stakes setting while a healthy team stays healthy.
The trade question nobody is saying out loud
Not a near-term decision. But it is circling.
If the Yankees decide Volpe cannot reclaim his 2023 form, the roster calculus shifts. Volpe would have trade value. A Gold Glove shortstop with World Series experience draws market attention. The Yankees have needs that kind of return could address.
The Yankees give Volpe roughly 100 to 150 at-bats, or 30 to 45 games, before making any permanent call. That is a reasonable window. If he hits and defends the way he did in 2023, the Yankees’ problem solves itself. Caballero finds a role. The lineup gets deeper.
If the bat and glove stay where they were in 2025, the conversation about his Yankees future shifts fast.
The Yankees are 20-11. They lead the AL East. They have the best rotation in the league. They are not desperate. That is the kind of standing that lets a front office decide on merit, not urgency.
Boone said more clarity was coming Thursday. A decision is imminent. Ask the Yankees manager what happens next. You already know the answer.
We’ll see.
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